Hanging out with Jesus X: Checkpoints to Spiritual Maturity

Hanging out with Jesus X: Checkpoints to Spiritual Maturity

Mark 4:1 - 20

The passage under review is about Jesus ministering on the seaside in Capernaum. Typically great crowds of people gathered to hear him and experience his mighty works of healing and deliverance. On this occasion, he told a story commonly known as the parable of the sower but because of its emphasis could also be the parable of the soils.  

The word “parable” means, “to cast alongside of”. Jesus told nearly sixty parables that are found in the Gospels. The parables were earthly life stories with a heavenly meaning. They were natural stories with spiritual meaning. Everyday life stories that illustrated deep things of God. 

 Jesus explained why he often preached in parables (Mark 4:11-12). He used parables to reveal truth to those who were willing to pursue it and embrace it, and to conceal truth from those who would trample on it, abuse and reject it. He therefore told parables in public and in private to smaller group settings explained them. The smaller group comprised his disciples and others hungry enough to find out the meaning. They set themselves from the crowd by being hungry for understanding. They set themselves apart from opportunists to be with real seekers who were not satisfied with mere stories but wanted the mystery in the stories. Jesus reveals spiritual mysteries to those hungry for understanding and to committed disciples. To those determined enough to pursue him to find out more about what he shared in public. The principle to believers is that you will not find the deep meaning of scripture from what you read on the surface. Instead, follow through in prayerful meditation and allow Jesus to explain.

THE SOWER

The sower represents any one or the means by which seed of the word of God or seed of the kingdom reaches people's hearts. It can be a preacher, a gospel singer, a tract, a television program, etc. The sower scatters the seed.  Ultimately, God is the sower and he makes his disciples into fellow sowers (Mathew 4:19).

- The sower is entrusted with seed.  Sowers must be faithful to do their part. They go out to the people and sow the seed. That way, sowers play the vital role of setting into motion the process to spiritual growth. God needs sowers. The soil needs sowers. God's priority is therefore to make his people sowers.

- The sowers in ancient Palestine scattered seed as the normal way to sow. When they scattered seed some fell for example on pathways made by people and animals passing through the fields. The seed fell on different kinds of surfaces. Therefore, the farmer was not careless and wasteful to throw seed on unproductive areas. The sower did not always know the type of soil. This example is a perfect illustration for the sower of God's word who does not know the quality of hearts the seed falls on. He is deals with concealed hearts of people. Therefore, he casts the seed indiscriminately by faith that it falls on good hearts. Not being certain of the quality of soil is a challenge sowers of the word have to live with. Whereas the perfect nature of the sower and his seed are known, it is after sowing that the quality of the soil is discovered.

THE SEED

 The seed is the message of grace and the kingdom. It is the good news that Jesus came into this world, died for sinners, rose again from the dead to offer full and free salvation to everyone who would believe. All people receive the same seed.   'The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe' (John 6:63, 64).  The problem of some believers being fruitful and others lacking spiritual maturity and fruit does not lie with the seed but the soil - heart conditions/attitudes.

THE SOIL

The parables had one primary truth - in the current passage, the truth was the quality of soil affects the harvest. Poor soil not only limits growth, but also produces frustration for the sower. God wants you to know your own heart, which is the soil for God’s seed, and make sure it does not hinder your spiritual maturity. Every person is responsible for the condition of his/her heart. To give an example, I had the experience of growing sweet potatoes. They only produced rich leaves but no fruit. The reason being, we had not checked the soil and only later learnt that the soil needed lime to be productive.

The parable of the soils presents four heart checkpoints on the journey to spiritual maturity.  As at a road checkpoint, authorities stop and inspect travelers to check if they have what is required to proceed.  The inspections in the process of spiritual maturity are about the quality of the heart ‘soil’. Not all soil is equal. Soil can be good or poor. People hear the same word but respond to it differently.

The parable of the soils reveals four inspections you must pass to proceed to maturity and bear fruit. Check yourself on the following four checkpoints on your spiritual journey. 

Checkpoint One - Hard Soil

Check if the soil of your heart is cultivated to hold seed. Is there foundation for the word to find root and grow. The hard ground, or wayside soil, was on trails through a field trodden repeatedly by people and animals. Trampled underfoot for a longtime wayside hearts have become hard hearted. They are no longer sensitive to God’s word. They find reasons not to believe (1 Corinthians 1:18).  Satan and his minions easily and immediately come to steal the word. As a result, they forget the word they hear. Enemies of faith work mind and hearts of hearers of the word to make the word of no effect.   

People with such hearts ignore or neglect the word. Repeated disobedience and persistent neglect have hardened their hearts. They seek after a gospel for the moment with zero commitment. They hear but are not convicted and transformed. Maybe they harbor sin. 

Checkpoint Two - Rocky Soil

Check the depth of the soil. The soil in the parable had a thin soil layer under the surface before it became rocky. That represents shallow belief that hinders progress to spiritual maturity. Spiritual comes from a deeper level of understanding and inner fortitude.  

The seed germinates but the roots cannot go very deep and as a result, the plant is scorched by the heat of the sun.  The plants become parched, wilted, and unproductive. People with such hearts receive the word. They are sensitive to it and respond with an early enthusiasm. The shallowness is not obvious. They attend church like everyone else. However they are fair weather believers who when they face the heat of difficulties, trials and trouble they get offended. They have a superficial emotional commitment and most of what they do is for show. They are there to follow the crowd. At work, they are embarrassed about being a Christian for fear of persecution.  Those planted in rocky soil desire to hear only what feels good and tickles their ears. They love a sugarcoated gospel.  They know little about repentance and dying to self.  Perhaps they heard a shallow presentation of the Gospel that presents the benefits of salvation but does not show the costs.

Checkpoint Three - Weedy Soil

Check your priorities in the face of competing interests. Weeds in a garden such as dandelion in a lawn, not only crowd out the desired plants, but they also sap nutrients for growth and good yield. The soil with weeds represents hearts of people who gladly receive the word of the kingdom but fail to seek it first (Mathew 6:33). All seems well but the competing seeds and roots of weeds are below the surface. As the seed germinates, the weeds spring forth and choke it.  People with weedy hearts do not have absolute commitment to the word. Their commitment is selective such that they obey the word when it suits them. Unlike the stony heart that runs from God in trouble, the weedy only runs to God in trouble. To grow to maturity, check if your time allocation and priorities is in line with your values from God’s word. Weedy people have difficulty with spiritual priorities. 

People with this kind of heart are easily distracted and diverted towards preoccupation with life desires, pleasures and cares that compete with the desire for God. They are torn in a different direction from that of God. They cannot discern God’s direction when making important or urgent decisions in their lives. They quickly get preoccupied with chasing after earthly riches (verse 19). They find time and resources for everything else but find excuses such as 'I am tired' and ‘I am too busy' when it comes to spiritual responsibilities. They keep procrastinating doing what is first and right. Before long, they are ruled by their busyness such as hobbies, work activities, and acquiring possessions. In the end, God's word is squeezed out of their lives. Their first love soon fades away. They want to put their hearts in both worlds. However, God said you will find me if you search me with all your heart.

What is choking your connection to God, squeezing his life out of you, and stifling your spiritual growth?

Checkpoint Four - Good Soil

Check the measure of your expectation. The good soil is highly productive. The soil produces a yield that is thirty fold, sixty fold and a hundred fold.  Hundred fold is the high end of the scale to expect even in drought conditions (Genesis 22:12). People with hearts of good soil remember and obey God's word, and show healthy spiritual commitment that is unmoved by trials or things of this world.  They hear, seek understanding and apply the word in their lives. The only yield limit to people with such a heart is their faith (Mark 9:23). At this checkpoint, make sure you have enough jars and baskets to collect the harvest and you build large enough barns to store it. 

The spiritual fruit to expect in abundance from good soil includes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22, Colossians 1:10). It also includes hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit who gives understanding, a strong desire to share Christ with others (Romans 1:13), to forgive, to share material things you receive (Romans 15:27-28), and to always give thanks to God (Hebrew 13:15).

So what kind of soil are you? Failure at the four checkpoints in the maturing process is the cause of spiritual failure. Be diligent because good soil neglected can slowly become hardened and leave you at a distant from God. On the other hand, what ever your type of soil it can be transformed to good soil. Like the disciples who asked Jesus to explain the parables also be hungry enough to ask him. Qualify for mysteries by being committed to bringing souls and make makers of disciples. Set yourself apart from the seaside crowd by commitment to follow through, being teachable, seeking, and probing. Move from mere stories to mysteries with Christ. Allow the Holy Spirit to teach you all truth. Make the right choices of trusting the word of God and putting him in first place in your life. God does not want you to start only with strong promise like the stony and weedy hearts but to finish strong like the good soil. 

Message by Dr. Kurai Chitima.

Faith Ministries – Johannesburg Faith Life Center.

Ground and First Floors Sunset Bay Building,

204B Bram Fischer drive,

Randburg, Johannesburg, South Africa